24 Best Sights in Southern Oregon, Oregon

The name derives from an archaic Spanish word meaning "to plant grapevines," and that's exactly what this winery's husband-wife team started doing in the late '90s. Abacela has steadily established itself as one of Oregon's most esteemed wineries. Hot-blooded Spanish Tempranillo is Abacela's pride and joy, though inky Malbec and a subtly floral Albariño also highlight a repertoire heavy on Mediterranean varietals, which you can sample in a handsome, eco-friendly tasting room where you can also order light appetizers to snack on.

This rising star among southern Oregon wineries specializes in two varietals the region generally isn't known for: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The vineyard's cooler, higher-elevation setting is perfect for these grapes usually associated with the Willamette Valley, and you can sample them, along with a refreshing, dry rosé of Pinot Noir—with one of their impressive cheese-and-charcuterie boards, perhaps—amid the cushy seating in the airy, modern tasting room and sweeping patio, with its grand mountain views.

A trip up the winding road—or, better yet, a hike via the old cart track marked Catholic access—leads to the resting place of the clans (the Britts, the Beekmans, and the Orths) that built Jacksonville. You'll also get a fascinating, if sometimes unattractive, view of the social dynamics of the Old West: older graves (the cemetery is still in use) are strictly segregated, Irish Catholics from Jews from Protestants. A somber granite plinth marks the pauper's field, where those who found themselves on the losing end of gold-rush economics entered eternity anonymously. The cemetery closes at sundown, and guided daytime and sunset strolls are offered about once a month in summer.

The Allen Elizabethan Theatre overlooks this park, a wooded nearly 100-acre jewel founded in 1916 that serves as Ashland's physical and spiritual anchor. The park is named for the town's mineral springs, which supply water fountains by the band shell and on the town plaza—be warned that the slightly bubbly water has a strong and rather disagreeable taste. From morning through evening, picnickers, joggers, dog walkers, and visitors congregate in the park's most popular areas, which include dozens of paved and unpaved trails, two duck ponds, a rose garden, a Japanese garden, and ice-skating rink, and a reservoir with a beach and swimming. A great way to get a sense of Lithia Park's vastness, and just how much wilderness there is in the northern section, is to make the 3-mile loop drive around its border. On weekends from mid-March through October, the park hosts a lively artisans' market, and free concerts take place Thursday evenings in summer.

As many as 500 bald eagles make Klamath Basin their rest stop, amounting to the largest wintering concentration of these birds in the contiguous United States. Located along the Pacific Flyway bird migration route, the more than 50,000 acres of freshwater wetlands in this complex of six different refuges serve as a stopover for around 1.8 million waterfowl in the fall. Any time of year is bird-watching season; more than 400 species of birds—including about 30 types of raptors—have been spotted in the Klamath Basin, along with many mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. For a leisurely excursion by car, follow the tour routes in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake refuges—the latter has a superb bookstore and visitor center and is also a short drive from Lava Beds National Monument.

Marble caves, large calcite formations, and huge underground rooms shape this rare adventure in geology. Guided cave tours take place late March through early November. The 90-minute ½-mile tour is moderately strenuous, with low passageways, twisting turns, and more than 500 stairs; children must be at least 42 inches tall to participate. Cave tours aren't given in winter. Aboveground, the surrounding valley holds an old-growth forest with some of the state's largest trees, and offers some excellent and generally uncrowded hiking.

GPS coordinates for the caves often direct drivers onto a mostly unpaved forest service road meant for four-wheel-drive vehicles. Instead, follow well-signed Highway 46 off U.S. 199 at Cave Junction, which is also narrow and twisting in parts; RVs or trailers more than 32 feet long are not advised.

This pair of monolithic rock formations rise some 700 to 800 feet above the valley floor. Operated by a partnership between the Bureau of Land Management and the Nature Conservancy, the Table Rock formations and surrounding 4,864 acres of wilderness afford panoramic valley views from their summits, and glorious wildflower viewing and migratory bird-watching in spring. This is one of the best venues in the Rogue Valley for hiking; you can reach Lower Table Rock on a moderately challenging 5½-mile round-trip trail, and Upper Table Rock via a shorter (about 3 miles round-trip), less-steep route. The trailheads to these formations are a couple of miles apart—just follow the road signs from Table Rock Road, north of TouVelle State Park.

Few winemakers in southern Oregon have a more devoted following than Troon, whose swanky tasting room and winery in the northern Applegate Valley is patterned after a French country villa. Troon produces relatively small yields of exceptional wines, including some less typical U.S. bottles, such as orange wines and a revered Tannat.

Come face-to-face with some 600 free-roaming animals at the 615-acre drive-through wildlife park. Inhabitants include alligators, cheetahs, cougars, African elephants, gibbons, lions, giraffes, grizzly bears, Tibetan yaks, Siberian tigers, and many more species. There's also a petting zoo, a miniature train, up-close animal feedings and encounters, and engaging wildlife talks. The admission price includes two same-day drive-throughs. This nonprofit zoological park is a respected research facility with full accreditation from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, with a mission to conserve and protect endangered species through education and breeding programs. Through its cheetah breeding program, for example, more than 215 of these animals have been born here.

As you pull up to this opulent, Mediterranean-inspired chateau nestled in the foothills a few miles east of downtown Ashland, it's easy to understand why it's a favorite destination for weddings. But the winery's elegant Pavilion Tasting Room is also a memorable spot to sip Belle Fiore's excellent Cabernet Franc, Riesling, and more than a dozen other finely crafted wines. There's an art gallery, too, and light dining on the upper level, which has a gracious terrace.

One of the West's most underrated national park units, this 114,000-acre swath of wilderness preserves a diverse landscape of towering volcanic mountains, arid high desert, and fertile river valley. Follow Highway 66 east from Ashland to access some of the monument's best hikes, which include a 3-mile round-trip jaunt up to Hobart Bluff, a 4-mile round-trip climb to the observation tower atop Soda Mountain, and a 2.8-mile round-trip trek to Pilot Rock, an ancient volcanic plug. A long section of the Pacific Crest Trail also passes through the monument, including an easy section around Hyatt Lake, a pristine reservoir that's popular for kayaking, trout fishing, and camping. Not far from the lake, Green Springs Inn & Cabins offers rustic but beautifully situated accommodations; adjacent to it is a BLM contact station where rangers can supply maps and advice on what to see in this rugged section of southern Oregon.

Jackson County's natural history and collections of the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society are on display at this impressive 12,000-square-foot museum in Central Point. Fossils, petrified wood, scrimshaw, fluorescent rocks, thunder eggs, and precious minerals from throughout Oregon and elsewhere in the West are included, plus works of glass by renowned artist Dale Chihuly.

One of Oregon's best regional history museums, this engaging place surveys 10,000 years of human activity. The fossil collection is worth a stop, as is the state's second-largest photo collection, numbering more than 24,000 images, some dating to the 1840s.

Southwest of downtown Medford amid a bucolic patch of fruit orchards, this winery and tasting room adjoins a stately 19th-century white-clapboard farmhouse surrounded by flower beds and vegetable gardens. Inside the tasting room you can sample and buy EdenVale's noted reds, a late-harvest dessert Viognier, and a first-rate cider produced with estate-grown pears.

The anthropology, history, geology, and wildlife of the Klamath Basin are explained at this extensive museum set inside the city's historic armory building, with special attention given to the hardships faced by early white settlers. Also part of the museum's domain are the Baldwin Hotel Museum, which is also downtown, and the Fort Klamath Museum and 8-acre frontier-era military garrison that you reach by driving 35 miles north on Highway 62.

You can try the complex, mostly Rhône-inspired wines—such as Viognier and Syrah, and Grenache—of this respected Rogue Valley producer that uses grapes from several areas including its picturesque estate vineyard in the Jacksonville countryside, where the sunny tasting room is located. Sandwiches and cheese and meat platters are available, too.

Among the many vineyards throughout the Rogue Valley, Rellik stands out both for producing well-balanced wines (including a quite tasty oak-aged Cabernet Sauvignon) and for having a herd of curious, friendly alpacas, which makes this a fun stop for the entire family. You can admire and even pet the alpacas, and sip wine while snacking on cheese and charcuterie in the tasting room or on the shaded patio. The vineyard is just over a mile up the road from historic Jacksonville.

In the Klamath Mountains and the Coast Range of southwestern Oregon, this 1.8-million-acre forest contains the 35-mile-long Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River, which races through the Wild Rogue Wilderness Area, and the Illinois and Chetco Wild and Scenic rivers, which run through the 180,000-acre Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. Activities include white-water rafting, camping, and hiking, but many hiking areas require trail-park passes. You can get advice on exploring the rivers and forest, and buy passes both online and at the Grants Pass Wild Rivers Ranger District office.

Covering 1.8 million acres, this immense tract of wilderness woodland has fishing, swimming, hiking, and skiing. Motorized vehicles, boats, and equipment—even bicycles—are prohibited in the 113,849-acre Sky Lakes Wilderness, south of Crater Lake National Park. Its highest point is the 9,495-foot Mt. McLoughlin.

You'll find an impressive array of kids' games and recreation at this complex just off Interstate 5. Miniature golf, batting cages, a golf driving range, bumper boats, and go-karts are among the offerings, and there's also a video arcade and game room.

On the beautifully landscaped campus of Southern Oregon University, this museum includes a light-filled gallery devoted to special exhibits by Oregon, West Coast, and international artists. The permanent collection has grown considerably over the years, and includes pre-Columbian ceramics and works by such notables as Alexander Calder, George Inness, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Hallways and galleries throughout the rest of the 66,000-square-foot complex display many works by students and faculty.  Steps from the museum, the university's Hannon Library is a gorgeous building with a dramatic four-story atrium, plenty of comfy seating, and quite a few notable artworks as well.

A 1¼-mile hiking trail follows the bank of the Rogue, the river made famous by novelist and fisherman Zane Grey; it joins with a picturesque 4-mile stretch of the multiuse Rogue River Greenway Trail, which will eventually span 30 miles and connect Grants Pass with Gold Hill and Central Point. There's a campground along 3 miles of shoreline with full RV hookups as well as yurts (some of them pet-friendly). Day visitors appreciate the picnic tables, walking trails, playgrounds, and restrooms.

Just a short drive east of downtown, this long-established winemaker occupies a leafy hilltop with broad views of the surrounding mountains. Specialties include a fine Malbec, a well-respected Viognier, both conventional (crisp, minerally) a Barile dessert wine, and a nicely balanced Tempranillo. The winery also rents out a stylish one-bedroom cottage with a kitchen and hot tub for overnight stays.